


something wretched about this, something so precious about this

by newlifemoriarty



Series: hands that shake [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: (we hope), Anxiety, M/M, also we're just gonna assume they'll beat the dragons, and i love them, i have so many thoughts about vax with anxiety, the twins are cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 17:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5975290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newlifemoriarty/pseuds/newlifemoriarty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vax has a Bad Day(tm) and Vex learns how she can help</p>
            </blockquote>





	something wretched about this, something so precious about this

It was their first real chance to get away from Emon after everything. After the destruction of Thordak they had all busied themselves in helping repair the city. But now there were rumours of bandits plaguing the routes into the city, attacking the refugees that were slowly returning to Emon. While it was only a minor thing, Vox Machina all jumped at the chance to get back to adventuring. Well, most of them. Vax had been hesitant to leave Gilmore, especially now they were in the final stages of fixing up the shop. He felt bad about leaving the merchant to do the last of the work on his own but Gilmore had insisted. Vax finally relented when Gilmore handed him a thick wad of parchment and explained the enchantment that allowed them to write to each other nightly.

And so they did. Each night, after the others had settled in but before the first watch started, Vax would slip just out of sight to write to Gilmore. Most of the time it kept him grounded and helped keep the nightmares at bay, knowing there would be a letter waiting for him when he woke.

One night, however, Vax was gone a lot longer than usual. The others didn't seem to worry, Scanlan making some joke about Vax writing Gilmore an epic poem, but Vex was concerned. Vax had been awfully quiet all day and she got the feeling something was wrong. Ignoring the others' teasing, she slipped off to where she knew Vax was. She found him sitting stock still on a small rock, the parchment laid out empty in front of him, his hands pressed flat against his thighs.

"What's the matter, brother? Can't think of anything to write?" she asked with a light chuckle as she approached, but then she saw the look on Vax's face. His brows were drawn tight together, his eyes pressed closed in fierce concentration or determination.

"Brother?" she asked quietly, stepping closer. He breathed out a tiny, wavering sigh and opened his eyes to look at her. As tears began to well up in them he lifted his hands of his lap and they began to shake violently. Vex remembered the last time she had seen them do that, but Gilmore had been there then to whisk Vax out of the room before things got worse. This time they were alone in the woods, miles from home. Vex acted on instinct and smiled kindly before striding confidently towards him and sitting right down in his lap. She picked up the quill.

"Tell me what to write," she said. She felt Vax shake his head.

"Vex, no it's fine..." he began but Vex cut him off.

"Brother. Tell me what to write." Vax sighed and pressed his chin against her shoulder.

"Dearest Gilmore," he muttered and Vex began to write in a near perfect imitation of his hand writing. Her curves were a little smoother, she had always been better at elvish script than common, but from a distance you could barely tell the difference.

As Vax dictated the letter, his sister made the occasional quip at his 'sappy dumb shit' but she dutifully write every word as he said them and triggered the arcane digits to send the letter off when it was done. When they got back to the camp Pike was on watch and everyone else had already gone to sleep. Vax went to slip into his tent when he realised Vex was still following him. He raised an eyebrow but didn't question it when she slipped into the bedroll with him. He remembered those early nights after they had left Singorn and they only had the one bedroll between them. It had been a long time since the twins had shared a bed, but he was glad for the familiar comfort that night.

When he woke, there was an especially long letter waiting for him from Gilmore. He described in detail the finishing work that had been done on the shop the previous day and his plans for the next few days. He described a particular magical dagger he had been keeping his eye on in one of his competitors shops in Westrunn and how he was determined to craft one that would 'make Vax swoon'. The letter went on for a few more pages, more than Gilmore had written before. Finally at the end there was a delicate post script that caused a gentle warmth to settle in Vax's gut.

'Do thank your sister for me, as well, for your last message. I would so hate to miss your letters because no one was there to help you on a bad day.'

Vax quickly brushed away the tears that were prickling at his eyes and as he did so, his hands weren't shaking at all.


End file.
